


even if it takes a hundred years

by BeesKnees



Series: so much time on the other side (waiting for you to wake up) [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Anal Sex, Captivity, Chris and Leon are married, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Game: Resident Evil 5, Kidnapping, M/M, Manipulation, Mental Disintegration, Mention of Suicide Attempt, Non-Consensual Oral Sex, Oral Sex, Resident Evil 5 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeesKnees/pseuds/BeesKnees
Summary: “Wesker,” Chris begs, already knowing he can't win this way but too desperate to do anything else. “Just let him go, please. It was never about him – you never really wanted him anyway. So tell me what you do want, and I'll give it to you.”“No,” Wesker admits. “It was never about him. But, my, weren't you foolish to bring him into this.”---Wesker kidnaps Leon to break Chris.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Albert Wesker, Leon S. Kennedy/Chris Redfield
Series: so much time on the other side (waiting for you to wake up) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749892
Comments: 20
Kudos: 115





	even if it takes a hundred years

Chris isn't even on an important mission when Leon goes missing. He's just running a routine orientation and training session for BSAA recruits. 

Leon had once predicted that the U.S. government wouldn't handle things well if something were to happen to Leon. And they don't. But in that discussion, they had both been talking about Leon being in the fight, probably killed by a new monstrosity, and the distinction between KIA and MIA being whether or not they could find his body.

Chris doesn't expect to return from training to find their townhouse ribboned in caution tape, marking it as a crime scene. 

He stands outside, unsure what to do. He calls Leon's phone and listens to it ring and ring as dread grows in his throat like a physical object. Eventually a local cop takes him down to the station because he looks suspicious and only then does the U.S. government intervene to tell him the little that they know: that Leon was taken sometime in the last 24 hours and he had fought like hell. The townhouse is a mess, almost everything inside shattered to pieces. Leon's blood spatters the walls in a way that is alarming but not lethal. 

Chris runs lists of enemies they have. He compares it to people he knows could take on Leon. 

He asks to see the ruins of his house, and he's told no, although they provide him with the pictures. He asks to be part of the official investigation, and he's told no.

Chris goes on leave from the BSAA and spends months tearing across the globe for any sign of Leon. He's alive, Chris insists. There'd be no point in trying to cover up his death. He's more valuable alive. And he's strong. He's so strong. He just needs to hold out until Chris can find him, because Chris is going to find him.

A year after Leon goes missing, the U.S. government declares him legally dead and closes the investigation. They bury an empty casket wrapped in an American flag. Chris' rage is so big that it feels like it might eat him alive. He lets Claire hold him while he sobs wretchedly. He had never known that it was possible to hurt this much and still be alive.

Jill and Claire both encourage him to go back to the BSAA, to work missions that are not only about Leon. Claire is quick to point out that Leon was obviously taken by someone connected to the viruses and BOWs, so one of them is going to hear something sooner or later. It makes sense for Chris to stay on the proverbial ground. Chris doesn't know if they really believe that or if they're just scared that he won't do anything but drive himself mad looking for Leon for the rest of his days. But he can't find a good argument, so he agrees. 

He knows they're relieved because he becomes less reckless. He can't be reckless, really, when he's the only one looking for Leon, but he especially would never do anything to put the men beneath him at risk. 

He spends two years like that at the BSAA. He's only half a person, unable to connect with any of the new recruits in the way that he should. Everyone around him becomes increasingly more sure that Leon Kennedy is dead, and they'll just never know what happened to him. Chris refuses to accept that, so most people just tiptoe around the subject of Leon. Chris drifts between worlds like a ghost.

And then he goes to Africa.

…

(“This reeks of Wesker,” Jill says, low and fierce and irritated, as they trek after Sheva Alomar, tracing a growing conspiracy. A ghost resurrected. A danger they haven't known to fear in years.)

…

The moment the three of them step into this room, Chris can practically feel the temperature drop. He barely resists a shiver despite the fact that the air is still humid down here. 

“Chris, fall back,” Jill orders sharply. Her voice is unrelenting and steady, but he knows she's scared. 

If he'd had time to consciously process what she'd said, Chris would have have listened. But his gaze falls on what Jill is warning him away from first.

Chris swears to God that his heart stops right there and then. He's dreaming. He's hallucinating. He's dead. Anything makes more sense than the sight in front of him.

There's a man kneeling in the middle of the marble floor. The room in front of them is cavernous, so he still feels miles and miles away, but Chris knows him anyway. 

“Leon,” he says, voice breaking. He moves toward him without a second thought, survival instincts gone in the face of his husband's supposed return. 

“Chris, don't,” Jill says sharply, and she takes hold of his wrist. He tugs away from her. 

“Redfield!” Jill snaps, and she grabs him hard this time, actually managing to bring him back a step. He's about to snap right back at her, but when he turns to face her, he sees that her gaze isn't fixated on him or Leon.

She's looking up. There's a balcony overlooking them, and at the railing, stands Albert Wesker. He watches them with familiar smug amusement. 

Belatedly, Chris realizes he's practically growling, Jill's short nails digging into his skin. 

“Leon!” Chris shouts, because all he needs is Leon to walk over to them, and then he and Jill will take care of Wesker, and this entire nightmare will be over. Chris' rage takes on a white hot purity that he's not sure anyone other than Wesker has ever inspired him. He still can't mentally put into words the thought he now knows: _Wesker took Leon. Wesker has had Leon for_ three _years._

Chris' attention rivets back to Leon, and he leaves Jill to keep an eye on Wesker. 

But when Chris' eyes lock on Leon's form again, his stomach goes cold again. Leon hasn't so much as moved a muscle. He looks near breathless, head tilted just slightly downward, hair falling into his face. The marble has to be hell on his knees – and who knows how long he's been here? – but he's not even shifting with discomfort.

“ _Leon_ ,” Chris begs, voice breaking again. He just needs Leon to look at him, so he can see that Leon is still human, that Leon is _still_ Leon. He doesn't know which is worse: if this is a trick or a trap, and that isn't Leon in front of him at all – or if it is Leon, and Leon can't or won't answer him. 

He tugs against Jill's hold, but she draws him back again; Wesker is descending the steps with slow fluid motions. 

“You did take your sweet time finding us, didn't you?” Wesker says. 

He's enjoying this, the fucking bastard. He keeps walking toward them. Jill has her gun aimed at him even while holding Chris back, and Sheva is focused warily on Wesker as well. He seems utterly unconcerned by that and heads toward where Leon isn't moving.

“ _Get away from him_ ,” Chris snarls. He breaks free of Jill's hold finally and moves jerkily toward Wesker and Leon.

But Wesker reaches Leon before Chris gets anywhere near. Wesker simply stands slightly to the side of Leon, and Leon, for the first time since they arrived, moves. He turns his head toward Wesker, pressing his cheek into the front of Wesker's thigh, and Chris is brought up short. 

“It's a little late for that,” Wesker says as he cards his fingers through Leon's hair. 

Without warning, Jill fires a shot. Chris spins to her, ready to be horrified, because how could she shoot when Wesker is standing _next_ to Leon? 

He watches her eyes widen as something cracks against the back of his skull and his world goes dark.

…

When he wakes up, it's with a pounding headache and a feeling of nauseousness. Chris opens his eyes slowly. He's not sure where he is right away, and that's never a good sign.

He tries to move and finds that he can't. He's bolted into a metal chair – arms and legs to the respective parts of the chair, and the chair into the ground. Chris grunts and strains against the contraption until his wrists ache but it has no give. 

He let outs a heavy breath and takes in his surroundings. He thinks there are two more chairs somewhere behind him, but he can't turn enough to see.

“Jill?” he calls. “Sheva?” 

If they're in the room with him, they don't answer. 

Chris is trying not to panic. It's not an emotion that's familiar to him. He's been through enough things in this lifetime that he's good at sticking to his training even when he's scared. But Chris has spent three years desperately searching for his husband, trying to convince nearly everyone that he was even still alive. And the whole time Wesker has had him – a fate worse than almost anything Chris has imagined. His stomach turns to acid as he recalls Leon, unyielding on the floor, until Wesker had approached him. The obedience and instinct with which he had turned toward him. 

Maybe it isn't Leon.

Chris goes back to trying to find a structural weakness in the chair – literally the only thing he can do. He jams his body back against it, thudding his weight into it over and over again. 

“It'll be a marvel to escape those. Even for you.”

Chris looks up as Wesker steps inside the room. Leon is right behind him.

He's so much closer than before. Everything about him is sharper than the last time Chris saw him – his face is leaner and the rest of his body seems corded with more muscle. His eyes are the most telling, though – the same, beautiful glinting blue, but it's like there's almost nothing behind them. He looks at Chris without recognition or emotion, and Chris is practically on the verge of tears just from seeing him. 

“Wesker,” Chris begs, already knowing he can't win this way but too desperate to do anything else. “Just let him go, please. It was never about him – you never really wanted him anyway. So tell me what you do want, and I'll give it to you.”

Even as he speaks the words, he's alarmed to realize that they're true: there's so little he wouldn't give Wesker right now if it meant that Leon just got to go home. It's an unforgivable sin between him and Leon. They'd had discussions about if something happened to one of them, what the other was allowed to do. And Leon, if he was fully himself, would hate this. He would never let Chris endanger anyone else to save him – would be the first to point out that it defeated the purpose of their work and only made them a bigger target. 

But they had never imagined something this extreme: three years gone and Leon looking entirely empty. Chris was broken the moment he stepped in that room and saw Leon kneeling on the floor. 

“No,” Wesker admits. He puts a hand to the back of Leon's neck, and Leon doesn't even react, let alone flinch. “It was never about him. But, my, weren't you foolish to bring him into this.” 

“ _Wesker--_ ”

“Pet,” Wesker says, massaging his fingertips into the back of Leon's neck. “Do you remember him?”

“Yes, sir,” Leon answers, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Who is he?”

Leon's eyes finally move to meet Chris'. Chris feels like his heart is being tased. 

“Captain Christopher Redfield of the BSAA,” Leon answers, almost as if reciting. But then he hesitates and adds, “We were married.”

Chris feels something else shatter inside of him – Leon's memories aren't just gone. There _is_ some part of Leon that knows Chris, and Leon simply isn't answering to it.

“Leon,” Chris begs wretchedly. “Leon, I've been looking for you. I didn't know he had you, I swear. Whatever he's told you, it's a lie. I _love_ you.” 

Leon's gaze drops rapidly away from his as Chris talks, and he thinks Leon might even flinch away if it weren't for the fact that Wesker is still holding him firmly by the back of his neck. 

Wesker leans in close and whispers something into Leon's ear, something that Chris can't hear, and Chris goes nearly feral at Wesker being even nearer to Leon. 

“You _son of a bitch_ ,” Chris snarls, jamming himself forward until the skin around his wrists finally gives and starts to bleed. 

Wesker remains poised above Leon's ear. 

“Pet, why don't you tell Chris why you're here? Why you belong with me?”

“So that I can't hurt anyone, sir,” Leon answers automatically. It takes Chris several extra moments to process the words. He looks over at Wesker, too mindless with anger to even put together the most rudimentary of curse words. His gaze says it all: _how the fuck did Wesker make Leon believe that?_

“It was a lesson that took a bit of time,” Wesker says. He presses the gloved thumb of his free hand to Leon's lower lip, and Leon parts his lips obediently. 

“But we had time,” Wesker continues. “Long enough for us to understand that our disobedience had consequences for others. That, maybe, if we couldn't behave, there were others who could take our place – Claire Redfield. Innocent strangers who had nothing to do with this. That maybe if we didn't obey, there were husbands left behind who could still be hurt worse. That submitting protected all of those people.” 

Chris is wide-eyed and trembling with rage, not knowing if he should be looking at Wesker or Leon. 

“Leon,” Chris says sharply. “You know that's not true. _He_ was the one putting people in danger, not you.”

But his words simply don't seem to reach Leon. It's like he only has ears for Wesker after the _years_ that Wesker has spent filling him with poison. _Wesker_ has somehow become Leon's fixed point, the only one that can alleviate his pain _because_ he's the source of it, but Leon's mind is too scrambled to put those contradictory facts together again any longer.

Wesker presses his fingers to Leon's jaw and tilts Leon's face toward him a little.

“Do you want to please me?”

“Yes, sir,” Leon answers.

“And why is that?” 

“Because you perfected me.” 

Chris just wants to curl up and die. He wants to tell Wesker that he gets it – Wesker won. Chris can't endure this, so he doesn't need to see anymore. He had thought that the worse thing he would have to go through was Leon's death – maybe having to put Leon down himself if he turned. This is so much worse.

“Go show Chris how perfect you are,” Wesker breathes thumbing at Leon's lower lip again. 

Leon looks at Wesker unwaveringly and then crosses the few feet to Chris. He drops to his knees in between Chris' slightly spread legs and opens his pants, pulling all the fabric out of the way so that he can fish Chris' cock out. 

He finally gives in and starts sobbing. 

“Leon,” he begs. “Please don't.” 

His words again have no impact. Leon leans in to take his still-soft cock into his mouth in one go, and then holds for a moment, the stillness almost unnerving. Chris can feel himself twitch against Leon's tongue. He hates himself. He doesn't want this, but this is still _Leon_ in some twisted way, and Chris has been alone for so long now.

“He got very good at this part very quickly,” Wesker says quietly, stepping beside them to stroke the back of Leon's head as Leon starts to bob his head along Chris' length. 

“Not that there wasn't a fight at the beginning,” Wesker says, lip curling. “But it didn't take that long for this to become an easy – and then a preferred – way of protecting others. Of pleasing me.” 

Chris closes his eyes so that he doesn't have to look at either of them, and, somehow, that's worse, because he's left almost only with the wet heat of Leon's mouth. Leon pulls back to lick obscenely at the head, and Chris is thrown painfully back into memories of how much Leon enjoyed sucking his dick. Objectively, this is good – the technique is all there – but it's also clinical in a way that sends Chris' skin crawling.

“You should know that he's been invaluable to Uroboros,” Wesker says with something akin to fondness. He forces Leon's head forward abruptly, and Leon takes the action without so much as gagging. Chris sobs. 

“That agility and stealth,” Wesker says, tutting almost thoughtfully. “He's been able to get in and out of places that I didn't even imagine.” 

“I hate you,” Chris gasps. 

“I know,” Wesker says with faux sympathy. Leon is still just moving in between Chris' legs as if he's utterly unaware of the conversation happening above him. Chris doesn't even begin to know how to reach him when he's so disengaged from _everything_ except for the call of Wesker's commands.

Chris is fully hard despite himself now, digging his fingers into the unrelenting metal of the chair he's strapped into. He bites at the side of his mouth and fights with himself, because he won't be able to live with himself if he does this to Leon on top of everything – as if he's telling Leon that Leon himself is not a vital part of what takes places between them. 

“What's really been remarkable is how much I've been able to accomplish with him just through old-fashioned hard work,” Wesker continues, and he's smiling faintly again. “It is, frankly, incredible what you can drive a person to do when you break them in the right way. I want you to know that beyond any doubt, Chris. That all I needed was his love for you to turn him into this.” 

“ _No_ ,” Chris insists, but he can't stop sobbing now. He's undone by this, overwhelmed by his sorrow and shame and arousal. He's beyond cognizant thought, drowning in his own emotions. 

“Yes,” Wesker says simply, and Leon takes him down the back of his throat again, and Chris comes, near hyperventilating and shredding his wrists further on the edges of the sharp metal. 

Chris can't open his eyes after he's finished, still crying and ruined, his face turned away from the pair of them. 

“Up, Pet,” Wesker commands. Chris hears the shuffling of clothes as Leon stands. He thinks, stupidly, for a moment that there will be some distance between him and Leon again, and he never thought that would be something he would need, but he does. 

Instead, he feels the press of Leon's knees against his thighs as Leon comes as close to straddling him as he can in the chair. Chris looks up at Leon, shocked. Leon looks down at him with the same removed, almost statuesque expression. He's still so fucking beautiful, and Chris would do anything to see any emotion on Leon's face again – his stubbornness when he and Chris would disagree over something, his tired exhaustion after coming back from a mission that didn't go well. Chris would settle for any of those bad things, because they would be better than this _nothingness_. (Chris can't even imagine Leon's full laughter or the soft expression he'd give Chris in the mornings when the world was safe and theirs.) 

“Leon,” Chris says through his tears, as if one more call of his name might bring Leon back to him this time. 

Leon puts each of his hands on Chris' shoulders and then arches his back. As he does, Wesker steps up behind him. Chris already knows what's going to happen and he doesn't know how to fight it. He can't. Wesker just barely moves Leon's pants out of the way before pushing inside of him. Leon's expression barely falters, and Chris isn't sure which is worse: that Leon is simply used to the pain or that he was prepped before this.

Leon looks down at him, both blank and like he can see through Chris' soul.

“I'm sorry, Leon,” Chris whispers again as Leon is rocked into him by Wesker's thrusts. “I'm so sorry.” If he could go back and undo it all in this moment, he would – he'd never let Claire introduce him to the rookie cop that she had survived Raccoon City alongside. He wouldn't let himself think how pretty Leon was and he wouldn't ask him out for drinks. He wouldn't fall madly and quickly in love, amazed at how he could be so happy amidst such an awful time. He wouldn't be playful and competitive with Leon, and he wouldn't be bettered by him. He wouldn't propose only nine months into dating, and they wouldn't get married overseas with just Claire present. 

He'd let Leon go. He'd ignore him. Just so that he could escape and survive Wesker – because anything would be better than this. Better that Leon had died as himself than to be whatever it is Wesker has made him now, and Chris hates himself for thinking that. And yet--

Chris turns his head away from Leon's unending gaze. His eyes focus on Leon's left hand resting on his shoulder. Leon's ring finger is gone from that hand.

Without missing a beat, Wesker knows that Chris has noticed. He lays his gloved hand overtop Leon's.

“Why do you lose this, Pet?” Wesker asks. 

“I tried to kill myself,” Leon answers. Chris looks sharply up at him, and Leon is still staring down at him without any change in expression.

“And what did I tell you I did with it?” Wesker asks silkily. 

“You sent it to Chris,” Leon supplies. “So that he would know I was in pain while he couldn't find me.”

Wesker leans in closer so that his mouth is against Leon's ear. His gaze sears into Chris.

“I lied,” Wesker breathes. “All the things you did to stop me from taunting him – they were for nothing. I never let him have any clue of where you were or that you were still alive.” 

And still – _still_ – Leon doesn't so much as blink, and Chris finds himself sobbing again.

Wesker seems pleased with the lack of response from Leon. He grabs him by the back of the neck and begins to fuck into him in earnest. Leon keeps making breathy little sounds, and Chris can't make himself look down to see if Leon is hardening in response to this. 

Leon's noises grow louder as Wesker fucks him harder, and Leon tightens his grips on Chris' shoulders. With every rough thrust now, though, he's forced up against Chris. Chris feels sick, and somehow it's a reassuring feeling after the confusing arousal of the blowjob.

Leon knocks into him again, and Chris feels something hard underneath Leon's shirt. He frowns and turns back to look at Leon despite himself.

Wesker grabs a handful of the top of Leon's shirt and yanks it down so that Chris can see the red device embedded in Leon's chest, a little to the side of his heart. 

“There is still one lesson we've been having trouble with,” Wesker says, and it should be an admission but instead he sounds amused. “I have an insurance plan for when that happens.” 

Chris stares, horrified, at the irritated skin around the metal device, sunk into Leon's body and entirely alien at the same time.

“Sometimes,” Wesker says as he thrusts, “we still have hesitation about killing without question. Particularly children.” Chris stares up at him, wondering how they've reached the point that Wesker implying that Leon _has_ killed children for him is simply another drop in the bucket.

“Pet,” Wesker says again, taking hold of Leon's throat so that he can level his head back. “Why don't you like killing innocents even when it pleases me?”

For the first time in this whole encounter, Leon finally shows some emotion. He looks confused, brows knitting together, as if he doesn't entirely understand the question at first – and then as if he's searching his memory. Chris doesn't know if he's looking for the truth or what Wesker would want him to say.

“I don't know,” Leon says finally, but he looks distressed about it – and Chris doesn't know if he or Wesker won in this moment, because it's a _crack_ in what Wesker has shown him so far, but it's simultaneously a show of just how little Wesker has to do before his work is finished. 

But Wesker is pleased with the answer. He grabs Leon more firmly by the back of the neck and pushes his face forward into Chris' neck as he finishes. Chris can feel Leon's unsteady breathing against his skin, and Chris just still wants so badly to hold him. He wants to be able to tell Leon that this is going to be okay and that Leon is going to be safe now. He can't even do that.

Wesker pulls away and for a moment, Leon is just pressed on top of him. 

“I love you,” Chris whispers so softly he can barely hear it. He says it like it's a good-bye.

Leon is gone in the next moment though, leaving Chris with no indication that he'd heard him. He rights himself and goes to stand back beside Wesker. Chris is hollowed by the sight of them, unsure what else Wesker could possibly do at this point. 

“Kill them now, Pet,” Wesker says. He looks at Chris as he says it, but he catches Leon's chin and turns it toward him, pressing the faintest of kisses to just the corner of Leon's mouth. 

Leon's face contorts into the same confusion he'd shown earlier. He seems struggling to find words but doesn't make a single sound. Through his shirt, Chris can see the device hooked into Leon's chest begin to glow a bloody red.

“Kill all three of them and come to me when you're done,” Wesker says. He lets go of Leon. “Good bye, Chris,” Wesker says as he steps back out the door he came through. 

It clangs shut, and Leon is still standing there, looking as if he's at war with himself, his gaze utterly unfocused. 

“Leon,” Chris says softly. Leon's eyes dart to his. Chris wets his lips nervously, trying to figure out what he should say – he doesn't expect Leon to fight this and win, and maybe if he it was just him at risk, Chris could live with that. But he can't let Leon kill Sheva and Jill too. 

“I know you've been fighting for a long time,” Chris says, keeping his voice hushed. “But I know you can go a little longer. I believe in you. You know Jill, and you know she doesn't deserve to die here. And Sheva's got so much compassion, she probably puts us all to shame.” Leon isn't reacting, but his gaze is still fixed on Chris, so Chris will take that. He swallows.

“And if you can't fight it anymore, that's okay,” Chris says. “We all forgive you, Leon. And I'm sorry – _I'm so fucking sorry_ – that I didn't find you sooner. That I didn't protect you in the first place. I love you. I love you so fucking much.”

Leon still isn't moving. Chris doesn't know if that's good or not. 

Without warning, a gunshot rings out. Chris starts badly. 

Leon staggers backward, belatedly touching his fingers to his shoulder. His fingertips come back red, and he seems – almost _curious_ about that.

“Jill, wait!” Sheva cries. “We just need to get that thing off his chest!” 

“You can't be sure of that,” Jill answers unwaveringly. Chris can hear her footsteps just off to his right side. She got free somehow. 

“We _have_ to try!” Sheva insists. 

“All right,” Jill agrees. 

Chris feels like his brain is eons behind what's happening. Jill comes just into his peripheral vision. She sticks her gun back into its holster. She inches toward Leon slowly, as if approaching a feral animal. Chris holds his breath, wondering if Leon can just _stay still_ \--

Instead, his gaze goes hard. He doesn't wait for her to reach him. He flings his body at her. Jill is prepared for this, though. She dodges out of his way and then uses his own body monument to throw him further into the room.

“Jill!” Chris shouts as she goes after him, both of them moving out of his line of sight. This is its own kind of torture – being unable to do anything as his best friend fights his husband. He can only hear the sound of them struggling – Jill making a rough sound and then an almost growl as Leon gets a blow in.

It goes on like that for what feels like forever even though it has to only be a few minutes. 

Unexpectedly, Leon gets tossed across the room – and Chris has to wonder what the hell Jill did to manage _that_.

Leon lands on his bad arm and, for a moment, is dazed. Jill rushes over. She grabs onto him with everything she has and rolls – she wraps around him from behind, her arms around his, legs twisted around his thighs. 

“Sheva!” Jill shouts, and Sheva follows shortly after. She straddles Leon, pulling his shirt out of the way, and grabs the wicked device on his chest. It doesn't give at first, and Sheva tightens her grip on it and just tugs on it harder.

Between them, Leon screams, this _thing_ causing him so much pain. He tries to buck Sheva off, nearly growling at her, but Sheva is determined. 

Sheva pulls again. Chris is afraid they're going to kill him. Dry-mouthed, he can't manage words, and he knows it doesn't matter. Leon has to get that device off and out of him.

Sheva pulls one more time, and Chris can see every muscle straining in her body – and the thing finally comes off. Sheva nearly falls with the sudden give. She tosses it aside as Leon goes limp. 

Huffing out a heavy breath, she gets off of him and Jill cautiously lets go. 

“Is he breathing?” Chris begs. 

Jill presses her fingers to his neck.

“He has a pulse,” she confirms, nodding. She staggers to her feet and holds out a hand to Sheva, who passes Jill's lock pick back to her. 

“Let's get you out of here,” Jill says with something akin to gentleness, beginning to undo the locks holding Chris to the chair. 

Chris is profoundly impatient and, yet, when he's free, he doesn't know what to do. Leon is still crumpled on the ground, his chest a mess of marks from where Wesker's device had been. He's looking upward with open, empty eyes, the bullet hole in his shoulder bleeding sluggishly. Chris just wants to gather him up and hold him close, and, yet, he knows that will do nothing for Leon.

“Chris,” Jill says quietly. “I know this is an impossible situation, but I need to know where you are right now. At least two of us have to go after Wesker. We still have to stop him. Where are you? Can you be with me?”

Chris' knee-jerk reaction is that he needs to stay with Leon, of course. But as he looks back down at Leon, he realizes that means sending Sheva after Wesker. He has no doubt of Sheva's abilities, but she's never faced down Wesker before. And, honestly, it might be better for Leon if Chris isn't here with him. The thought rips his heart all over again, but it might be easiest if it was Sheva – a friendly face but a near stranger. 

“I can take care of him,” Sheva says gently, touching his arm as if reading his mind. “I'll make sure he gets out of here, Chris. You just have to promise me that you'll stop Wesker.”

Chris nods and swallows.

“I'll go with you, Jill.” 

“All right,” she says. “You ready?”

Chris looks back down at Leon. Sheva is getting some medical supplies out of her pack and sitting down on the ground beside him so that she can take care of the gunshot wound. Her touch is gentle, and Leon doesn't stir beneath it. 

Chris wishes there was something he could do. Leon is still near catatonic, though, and Chris knows that the last time, at least, Leon heard him say that he was sorry. That he loved him. There's no other words that can succinctly sum up all the things that Chris wants to say to him. It feels near perverse to kiss him or touch him in anyway. There's nothing he can do for Leon right now except to go get Wesker, to make sure that the fucker never gets anywhere near him again. 

“I've got him,” Sheva says again, her tone still gentle.

Chris turns back to Jill.

“Let's go.”


End file.
